Panasonic Lumix S Full Frame Mirrorless Cameras Announced

You get a mirrorless full frame camera, and you get a mirrorless full frame camera, and you get a mirrorless full frame camera. Everybody gets a full frame mirrorless camera! In an announcement that surprised almost no one in the photography enthusiast world, Panasonic has now entered into the full frame mirrorless game with the new Panasonic Lumix S series.

This news comes hot on the tail of the Canon EOS R and the Nikon Z6 and Z7, finally giving consumers several more options if they want to have a mirrorless camera with a full frame sensor.

It's pretty safe to say that Sony has had a stranglehold on this segment of the market for the past while. Olympus and Panasonic really helped to push mirrorless forward with the micro four-thirds format (I have a m4/3 camera myself), but pushing to a 35mm full frame makes a huge difference.

As with other Panasonic Lumix cameras in the past, the Lumix S series will also benefit from a partnership with Leica. They're not going into details on that just yet, but the pedigree is certainly there and they'll be using Leica's L-Mount. At launch, we can expect a 50mm f/1.4, 24-105mm zoom, and 70-200mm zoom, plus "more than ten" compatible lenses by 2020.

The Lumix S series will consist of two cameras at launch: the Lumix S1 with a 24-megapixel sensor and the Lumix S1R with a 47-megapixel sensor. In both cases, the system will boast a Dual IS system for optical image stabilization both in-lens and in-camera. Some other highlights include 4K 60p video recording, high resolution EVF, XQD and SD double slots, 3-axis tiltable LCD, the highest shutter speeds, and the highest flash synchronization speeds, plus "extreme durability" and weather sealing.

No word on pricing, but the new Panasonic Lumix S series should launch in spring 2019.